1. Russia

2. A small trip to Russia

3. Geography

4. The largest country in the world (1.8 times the size of the US) Capital – Moscow

5. Ural Mountains – the border between Europe and Asia 11 time zones +8 hours vs. US Eastern Time Baikal – the deepest and the cleanest lake in the world Caspian See – the biggest lake in the world

6. Places in Russia

7. Moscow

8. Moscow Metro

9. History

10. Two Tsar Dynasties: –Rurik Dynasty (862-1598) –Romanov Dynasty (1613-1917) Socialistic Revolution and the Rule of the Communist Party (1917-1991) –Lenin (1917-24): The Ideological Leader –Stalin (1928-53): The Main Dictator Market Reforms and Democratization: –Gorbachov (1985-91): Glasnost’, Perestroika –Eltsin (1991-99): Privatization –Putin (1999-20??): Redistribution

13. Economy

14. Natural Resources: –Second Largest Oil Producer (West Siberia) –World Largest Natural Gas Producer (East Siberia) –Almost all metals and minerals (Urals) –Third Largest Timber Producer (European North) Services Share in GDP: 68.3% GDP (ER): $ 741 BB (1.6% of World GDP) GDP per capita (PPP): $ 11 K (better than Mexico but worse than Malaysia) Economic collapse of 1990-98 (lost over 40% of 1989 GDP); Solid economic growth afterwards (6% a year) Inequality: worse than Europe but better than US (however, some argue that it is as bad as Brazil); 15% of population below the poverty line Key Trading Partners: EU (Germany), CIS (Ukraine, Kazakhstan), China, US Currency: Russian Rubble ($1 = 28 Rubbles)

15. People

16. Population: 143 millions (8 th in the world) Median Age: 38 years (37 years in US); 35 - for males and 41 - for females Life expectancy at birth: 67 years (78 years in US); 60 - for males and 74 - for females Total fertility rate: 1.28 children born/woman (2.09 in US) Population growth rate: -0.37% (+0.91% in US)

17. Religions: Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2% (Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of Soviet rule) Ethnic Groups: Russian 79.8%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 2%, Bashkir 1.2%, Chuvash 1.1%, other or unspecified 12.1% (over 100 nationalities)

18. Dagestan -I was born here -The Most Southern point of Russia -Over 30 different ethnicities -I am Tabasaranian

20. Famous Russians

23. Food

24. Borscht, Pelmeni, Shashlyk, Plov, Bliny, Caviar The biggest holiday – New Year. Every family has salad “Olivye”, champagne, and mandarins. Vodka (Peter the Great: “Vot kak!” (this way)

25. Language

26. The different alphabet – Cyrillic. It is based on the system of Greek capital letters. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages 33 letters

27. Меня зовут … – [Menya zovut] – My name is … Let’s learn Russian Альбина Бэт Джэйсон Синтия Эрин Синди Джессика Джеф Лесли Кэра Джереми Albina Beth Jaison Cynthia Erin Cindy Jessica Jeff Leslie Kara Jeremy

28. Good to know Let’s learn Russian Спасибо Пиво До свидания Я тебя люблю Привет Thanks Beer Good Bye I love you Hello Spasibo Pivo Do svidaniya Ya tebya lublyu Privet Я не понимаюI don’t understandYa ne ponimayu ПожалуйстаYou are welcomePozhaluista

29. Спасибо! Spasibo! Thank you!